Here is a view of the Blue Mosque from inside the Hagia Sophia. It was kindly taken by The Boy, as I was too short to see out of the window!

It’s another fabulous building – but it was an absolute zoo inside.

It didn’t help that I was absolutely SEETHING because so few women had bothered to cover their heads. It was so disrespectful. The Blue Mosque is a place of worship, not a museum, and tourists are allowed in, for free, as guests.

I stopped fuming for long enough to take some shots of the tiles…

…for which the mosque…

…is justly famous.

They’re not just blue 🙂

I was stunned by the stained glass – I’d never associated it with mosques before, but then I haven’t been to many.

After the Turks took Constantinople, the Hagia Sophia became the Ayasofya Mosque (it’s now a museum). Islamic elements were added over time.

The marble work is very fine….

…but not always quite what it seems. Once I realised that there was a mixture of marble and ‘marble effect’ (because of weight issues I think), I tried to tell which was which, but it was very difficult.

The minbar is especially lovely.

It’s like a little building itself.

The mihrab, which makes the direction of Mecca, is exquisite. It is however, VERY hard to get a decent shot of it, as most tourists sem to want to have their picture taken in front of it. It’s a shame, that such a beautiful expression of faith is treated with so little respect.